評論
打印
"You said Mr. Rochester was not strikingly peculiar, Mrs. Fairfax," I observed,
你說過羅切斯特先生并不特別古怪，費爾法克斯太太。
when I rejoined her in her room, after putting Adèle to bed.
安頓好阿黛勒上床后，我再次到了費爾法克斯太太的房間里時說。
Well, is he?
嗯，他是這樣？
I think so. He is very changeful and abrupt.
我想是這樣，他變幻無常，粗暴無禮。
True. No doubt he may appear so to a stranger, but I am so accustomed to his manner, I never think of it.
不錯。毫無疑問，在一個陌生人看來，她似乎就是這樣。但我已非常習慣于他的言談舉止，因此從來不去想它。
And then, if he has peculiarities of temper, allowance should be made.
更何況要是他真的脾氣古怪的話，那也是應當寬容的。
Why?
為什么？
Partly because it is his nature — and we can none of us help our nature.
一半是因為他生性如此，而我們都對自己的天性無能為力。
And partly because he has painful thoughts, no doubt, to harass him, and make his spirits unequal.
一半是因為他肯定有痛苦的念頭在折磨著他，使他的心里不平衡。
What about?
什么事情？
Family troubles, for one thing.
一方面是家庭糾葛。
But he has no family.
可是他壓根兒沒有家庭。
Not now, but he has had, or, at least, relatives.
不是說現在，但曾有過，至少是親戚。
He lost his elder brother a few years since.
幾年前他失去了哥哥。
His elder brother?
他的哥哥？
Yes. The present Mr. Rochester has not been very long in possession of the property; only about nine years.
是的，現在這位羅切斯特先生擁有這份財產的時間并不長，只有九年左右。
Nine years is a tolerable time. Was he so very fond of his brother as to be still inconsolable for his loss?
九年時間也不算短了，他那么愛他的哥哥，直到現在還為他的去世而悲傷不已嗎？"
Why, no — perhaps not. I believe there were some misunderstandings between them.
唉，不 — 也許不是。我想他們之間有些隔閡。
Mr. Rowland Rochester was not quite just to Mr. Edward.
羅蘭特.羅切斯特先生對愛德華先生不很公平。
And perhaps he prejudiced his father against him.
也許就是他弄得他父親對愛德華先生懷有偏見。
The old gentleman was fond of money, and anxious to keep the family estate together.
這位老先生愛錢，急于使家產合在一起。
He did not like to diminish the property by division,
不希望因為分割而縮小。
and yet he was anxious that Mr. Edward should have wealth, too, to keep up the consequence of the name.
同時又很想讓愛德華先生有自己的一份財產，以保持這名字的榮耀。
And, soon after he was of age, some steps were taken that were not quite fair, and made a great deal of mischief.
他成年后不久，他們采取了一些不十分合理的辦法，造成了很大麻煩。為了使愛德華先生獲得那份財產。
Old Mr. Rochester and Mr. Rowland combined to bring Mr. Edward into what he considered a painful position, for the sake of making his fortune.
老羅切斯特先生和羅蘭特先生一起，使愛德華先生陷入了他自認為痛苦的境地。
What the precise nature of that position was I never clearly knew, but his spirit could not brook what he had to suffer in it.
這種境遇的確切性質，我從來都不十分清楚，但在精神上他無法忍受不得不忍受的一切。
He is not very forgiving.
他不愿忍讓。
He broke with his family, and now for many years he has led an unsettled kind of life.
他便與家庭決裂。多年來，他一直過著一種漂泊不定的生活。
I don't think he has ever been resident at Thornfield for a fortnight together,
我想打從他哥哥沒有留下遺囑就去世，他自己成了房產的主人后，
since the death of his brother without a will left him master of the estate, and, indeed, no wonder he shuns the old place."
他從來沒有在桑菲爾德一連住上過二周。說實在，也難怪他要躲避這個老地方。"
Why should he shun it?
他干嘛要躲避呢？
Perhaps he thinks it gloomy.
也許他認為這地方太沉悶。
The answer was evasive.
她的回答閃爍其辭。
I should have liked something clearer, but Mrs. Fairfax either could not, or would not,
我本想了解得更透徹些，但費爾法克斯太太興許不能夠，抑或不愿意，
give me more explicit information of the origin and nature of Mr. Rochester's trials.
向我進一步提供關于羅切斯特先生痛苦的始末和性質。
She averred they were a mystery to herself, and that what she knew was chiefly from conjecture.
她一口咬定，對她本人來說也是個謎，她所知道的多半是她自己的猜測。
It was evident, indeed, that she wished me to drop the subject, which I did accordingly.
說真的，她顯然希望我擱下這個話題，于是我也就不再多問了。
